Arsenal vs. Manchester United - All Roads Lead to Rome

Theo Walcott
Wasn't quite as anonymous as he was in the first leg, but that's a bit like saying swine flu is better than bird flu. Poor.

So said the appraisals of the two teams on F365. Appropriate words for Walcott who was indeed anonymous across both legs but also for Arsenal. United may have been more dominant in the first leg but had little to show for it. Arsenal showed up for a greater part of this game (especially the first 8 minutes) but lost by a greater margin. That was always a risk if they were going to attack, leaving more spaces at the back.

I felt pretty negative going into the game. United were starting extremely defensively with Park on the right and Ronaldo through the middle as compared to playing either Berbatov or Tevez. Arsenal pulled their own surprising 4-4-2 with Van Persie up front. Diaby and Silvestre, those 2 legends from the last leg were sadly missing. Arsenal were obviously going to attack and if they got a goal or maybe two, things would be bleak or maybe hellish (depending on which happened).

Arsenal's early tempo and ball-keeping was enviable. The counter-attack in the 8th minute resulted in a goal thanks to young Gibbs slipping, letting Park clip the ball over Almunia. Gotta love the Koreans as JK would say. Young Gibbs never recovered from that and though he only misplaced a couple of passes the rest of the half, his mental condition was weakened enough that Wenger replaced him with Eboue at half-time. One of his misplaced passes though led to a poor tackle by Van Persie. Ronaldo lined it up 40 yards from goal, blasted it as he typically does and somehow beat Almunia. That's two semi-finals in 2 years won by wonder goals from distance. If Wenger was holding his hand in despair after just 8 minutes, he looked on the verge of tears after 14.

United were solid at the back throughout no doubt aided by Arsenal being unable to pass the central midfield in one piece. Ferdinand and Vidic were at their telepathic best. When the third goal came it was courtesy of a corner cleared by Vidic and some quick passing between Park, Rooney and Ronaldo. The ball must have gone box to box in 6 seconds before Ronaldo slotted home his second. Arsenal needed 5 at that point and the game was approaching humiliation levels. Even David Beckham was seen rubbing his hands in glee at the Emirates. The love for the club hasn't left him and despite him training with Arsenal 2 winters ago, it was fun to see him.


And so Evra and Rooney were withdrawn to protect them from getting a yellow card and a suspension for the final. Everything seemed perfect. And then Fabregas burst into the box, Fletcher tackled him brilliantly getting the ball first but bundling Fabregas over and was given a straight red card. I can see how the referee thought it a penalty given his angle but he should have paid attention to the direction the ball went. What is shocking, is that UEFA have no appeal system for a mistaken card. It is myopic and frankly very, very idiotic. Referees are human and make mistakes, mistakes that can be rescinded if they are clear enough in almost every football league on the planet. Why not in UEFA competitions? Stupid.

United will miss Fletcher and it put a massive dampener on the outcome for me. He's been extremely reliable this season and the trio of him, Carrick and Anderson is all action all the time. That trio will now see either Giggs or Scholes come in with a lot of running being lost. If the other finalist is Barcelona, I feel United's fate has been tied to Fletcher's. As he has lost out, so shall United. If the opponent is Chelsea, I see confidence coursing through this team's veins and some brilliant counter-attacking could do the job again.

Onto Rome we go.

P.S. - Giggs is either going bald on his chest or he's shaving pretty well. His lush torso mane was made famous in the 1999 FA Cup Semi-final when he scored that goal against Arsenal. Surely, he hasn't got a complex about it after all these years.

P.P.S. - It is Barcelona. Fun, fun.